"Tennessee Lawmakers Reject College IDs At Ballot Box, But Gun Permits Still OK"

Share:

College students in Tennessee could be barred from casting a ballot in upcoming elections under the state’s new voter ID law. That is, unless they own a gun.

Last week, the Tennessee Senate State & Local Government Committee rejected a bill that would have allowed valid photo IDs issued by any public institution of higher education to be used at the polls. The vote on Tuesday was 7-2, with all Republicans opposing and both Democrats voting in favor.

No Republicans on the committee offered testimony against the bill, other than Sen. Mark Norris (R) who noted that the courts had upheld the voter ID law in its current form and said he did “not think it was a good idea” to change it to include university IDs. Currently there are only six acceptable forms of identification that voters may use at the polls to satisfy Tennessee’s new voter ID law: a driver’s license, a passport, a state government-issued photo ID, a federal government-issued photo ID, a military photo ID, and a handgun carry permit.

The bill’s primary sponsor, Sen. Jim Kyle (D), argued in his testimony that college students are among the least likely Tennesseans to have a driver’s license, the most common form of photo ID that voters use at the polls. He also noted that the majority of states allow college students to use their university IDs at the ballot box. “Passage of this bill would point out to the courts that the purpose is voter identification and not voter suppression,” Kyle contended in vain.

Like ThinkProgress on Facebook

By clicking and submitting a comment I acknowledge the ThinkProgress Privacy Policy and agree to the ThinkProgress Terms of Use. I understand that my comments are also being governed by Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, or Hotmail’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policies as applicable, which can be found here.